Abstract:
ABSTRACT
Despite refinements in surgical techniques for liver transplantation, liver size
disparity remains one of the most common problems in patients. The aim of this
study was to establish a relationship between patient liver volume and their body
parameters such as Body Mass Index (BMI), Body Surface Area (BSA) and Body
Surface Index (BSI), measure the length of the liver in the midclavicular line and
also perform dose optimization. The height and weight of patients undergoing for
abdominal Computed Tomography (CT) scan were measured. The BSA, BSI and
BMI were calculated using their respectively formulas. Using MeVisLab
software and CT abdominal images each patient‘s liver volume and the length of
the liver in the midclavicular line were measured. Using the SPSS and gender
variation, statistical analysis was performed using the null hypothesis to ascertain
if there exists a relationship between the calculated body parameters and their
respective liver volume. Dose optimization was performed by predicting the
effective dose (ED) to the patients even before they are scanned. This was
achieved using the peak kilo voltage (kVp) and milli amperes seconds (mAs) to
predict signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and ED to the patient. The average male and
female liver volumes measured were 1.356 L and 1.363 L, respectively. The
length of the liver in the midclavicular line for male and female were 15.70 ± 2.31
cm and 15.90 ± 2.53 cm, respectively. A model equation, Effective Dose =
36.1 − 0.325 × kVp + 0.2522 × mAs was achieved and a C# code was written
with a Graphic User Interface (GUI) for easy clinical application.
